State senator calls on transportation agency to complete SMART to Larkspur

Marin's new state senator has sent a letter to a key Bay Area transportation planning agency asking that it complete the SMART commuter rail line from downtown San Rafael to Larkspur as originally planned.

State Sen. Noreen Evans, a Democrat from Santa Rosa, sent the letter to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which holds the purse strings to a large portion of Bay Area transit dollars.

"I look forward to working with you to explore addition funding opportunities to complete the connection between downtown San Rafael and Larkspur, creating an attractive transit connection between the North Bay and the rest of the Bay Area," wrote Evans — who also asked the MTC to work to extend SMART to the north in Sonoma County — in the letter late last month.

Due to recent redistricting, Evans' District 2 now includes Marin, a large section of Sonoma County and several northern counties extending to the Oregon border.

San Francisco Democrat Mark Leno formerly represented Marin, but the county was removed from his district.

The original language of the 2008 voter-approved quarter-cent sales tax had the train connecting Cloverdale to the north to Larkspur in the south, where it would link to Golden Gate ferries and San Francisco.

But the rail project was scaled back as funding from the sales tax slowed as the economy took a nosedive. The first phase of the project — with service beginning in 2015 or 2016 — will connect San Rafael and Santa Rosa.

In Marin, the line will offer stops at Atherton Avenue, Hamilton Field, the Marin Civic Center and downtown San Rafael. An adjacent pedestrian and bicycle path will be part of the project. The second phase would extend service through the Cal Park Hill Tunnel to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal, although funding has not been identified for that work.

"The SMART project has been on MTC's list of regional priorities," said John Goodwin, MTC spokesman. "That designation was re-affirmed in 2008. We will continue to work with SMART."

While funding for the extension to Larkspur has not been identified, the commission has already provided $33 million of the $360 million SMART is spending to get the commuter rail project rolling.

A connection to Larkspur would be ideal for commuters who use Golden Gate Ferry service. Presently there is no bus service to the terminal. A SMART Larkspur station would put commuters within walking distance of the ferries.

"It would be a wonderful option for people," said Mary Currie, Golden Gate Ferry spokeswoman. "It would be another way to get people to the ferries and it could ease the parking crunch for us at Larkspur terminal. It would provide another transit option."